Another nice spot for a short Weekend trip is the very south of the island of Taiwan, that is the Kenting area. It has some very nice places to visit and makes a great destination for a long motorbike ride. So if you’re expecting good weather, and usually the weather down south is way better than in Taipei, you should definitely go.
Going to Kenting is as easy as going to almost every other place in Taiwan, but it might take a while. That is of course depending on you’re starting position in Taiwan. A friend and I again took the train leaving from Taipei Main Station. There are different options, depending on how much you want to spend and how long the train ride should take. You can check yourself online at http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/EN_QuickSearch.aspx. After about five hours in the train we arrived in Kaohsiung Station.
Hungry after the long commute it was finally time for some lunch before moving on. So exiting the Kaohsiung Station on the front we took to the right and then looked down a little street on the left hand side. We ended up in a Taiwanese restaurant which served us the typical one meat with rice and three vegetables choices as a side plus an unlimited amount of sugared iced tea. A quick selfie and a coffee run at the 7-eleven right across the street later we walked to the bus terminal to check out the busses going to Kenting. At first we had a hard time finding the right bus stop, which is a common theme of almost every attempt of going anywhere by bus in Taiwan. If you want to take the bus to Kenting from Kaohsiung Station you have to go to this bus terminal.
The bus turned out to be very luxurious and almost empty so the ride of about two hours a very nice opportunity to look out the window and observe the nature and changing scenery once bus is approaching the shore line. Once we approached Hengchun town the bus driver asked us if we wanted to get off here or continue driving down to Kenting. He told us that sleeping here would be probably cheaper and if we were thinking of getting a motorbike we could drive the short distance by ourselves the next day. So we thanked him for the advice and got of the bus in Hengchun town right in front of the very impressive police station.
Right next to the police station was a scooter shop that was still open so we decided to get a scooter there. The shop is called 宏迪機車出租單車維修 on google maps. The owner was very nice and we had no problem of renting a motorbike and bringing it back 24h later. Equipped with the scooter we drove to the place where we decided to spend the night. The hostel is called 33 Backpackers. The room where we slept in was very big and had capsule like beds for enough privacy. The common hall was very big as well with a table, couch and a piano in it. The atmosphere was very cool in there although the common room got very chilly in the evening. Upstairs we also found a little gym, although I’m not sure if it is for public use or only for the owner. But be aware: If you have a cat allergy this place is not for you, there are a couple of cats walking freely in the whole hostel. This can be fun unless you’re constantly feeling the urge to sneeze.
Because of our stay in Hengchun we took the opportunity of visiting some natural fires in the area right after sunset. It is a very short ride with the scooter, you can park in this parking lot. You just have to go down some wooden stairs in the eastern part of the car park and follow the trail until you see the fire coming out of the ground.
If you’re interested in places to eat in this town I can recommend two different breakfast spots. The first one is a must, if you’re only here for one breakfast come here! The place is called 吳家中式早餐 and they serve amazing pancake like breakfast items. It is very crowded and there is some limited space in the back to sit down and eat, but probably you have to squeeze between some Taiwanese. The second place is a typical breakfast place and not very special but solid. It is called 拉亞漢堡-恆春南門 and located here. If you’re looking for dinner recommendations you can try 賺食人 they have a large variety of typical Chinese dishes. Another place is serving sea food and can be found here. The interior design is a mix between a restaurant and a warehouse but the people working there are very nice and the food is decent.
Travel but different 
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